Keeping it Fresh

2013 November 14

by Rob Meltzer

This morning, AJA had an interview with an Indian programmer and software entrepreneur and this guy raised a point about the barrycare web page that I had not yet heard before, and I’d be curious about the response from the more tech savvy amongst you. I don’t use the web to shop (or for anything else other than this blog) so I can’t really assess what he is saying.

He was saying that big e-commerce companies like e-bay and Amazon are basically rewriting their software almost every day. Small start up companies that create new software and new apps and new platforms that become trendy captivate the e-commerce market, and the big web pages make subtle adjustments all the time so that there web pages do not become stodgy, and so they are not a dozen steps behind new innovations. I have had that experience–as someone who doesn’t use Facebook or other social media pages, I am now often baffled by web pages that duplicate the look and feel of what is current, because I am clearly behind the times. By way of example, I occasionally participate in activities with a particular group, and I can’t, for the life of me, figure out how to use the on line registration system they are now using. I’m totally clueless. So now I don’t even bother. So, if I understand what this guy is saying, the big web commerce sites work like crazy to make sure that their sites don’t become as old and stodgy and dated as Holmes and Company, even, which, I can’t really figure out.

The point of this is as follows: healthcare.gov has no plan for updates and innovation. Once the system is up and running, it will run as written until a new contract is awarded some day to refresh and update the system. without those changes, there will be a bell curve drop off as the site becomes less attractive and less in tune with evolving technology. Worse yet, the system today reflects a web page circa 2011, meaning that the functionality shelf life and attractiveness of this web page is probably less than one year. This programmer was pointing out that in the world of e-commerce, its evolve or die, and the real threat to Obamcare is not whether someone can log on today, but what the government is going to do next year, when it may be too late.

Well, Amazon and Facebook do function that way. Facebook is quite famous for actually pushing out changes nightly. Amazon is so large that it can test the look and feel of some change on a small percentage of people and thus decide if a teal background logo is more effective than a mauve background logo (I made this example up).

In these cases, I might choose to use a different website if those websites stopped being the best for what I want them to do.

On the other hand, I manage my Mass Pike Fastlane/EzPass account using a website that feels about 10 years old. This website has a monopoly on EzPass account management so there is no danger that I’m going to go to a competitor.

Interestingly, websites like Travelocity and Expedia already do pretty much what HealthCare.gov does, only for travel. They both innovate as you describe because they compete for customers. They both integrate with many airlines, aggregate real-time information, and deal with customer’s private data.

Which means, John, that if you are tech savvy 22 year old, and you log on to barrycare.gov and it looks like something your grandmother would have used, you are going to get disgusted and decide not to buy health insurance. or, as I think about it, the issue may be that those insurance companies who do participate will find their snazzy private systems not compatible with a dated government system and may drop out of the marketplace. the thought was that any computer marketplace doing ecommerce has to keep up or drop out.

The government doesn’t consider potential users as customers. There is no need to do the things one would normally do to entice or retain a customer. It is entirely up to the user. If it doesn’t get the customers in type and size it needs to make the program successful the government will either raise taxes or penalties to get those users and/or it will dictate premium levels that can be charged. A user who is mandated to use the system is not a customer but rather a prisoner. It’s a simple variation on the Ford adage that one can have any color one wants as long as it is black, with the requirement that everyone must buy a Ford.

The software reflects that. The software is Procrustean. This program, once corrected for current flaws, is it. There is no need for anything more. Users have to fit to it because it is the governmental program that is important, not the user.

Personally, I think they should have just turned the programming over to the NSA. Heck the NSA probably already knows everything necessary or could find it in a flash to make the program work.

Comments are closed.

About this blog:

Holmes & Co. is a Blog for Independent Minds, a place for a free-flowing discussion of politics, policy, news and opinion.

This blog is the online cousin of the Opinion section of the MetroWest Daily News. As such, our focus starts in the MetroWest/495 area and spreads from there to include Massachusetts, the nation and the world. You'll also find here lots of cross-referencing to columns and editorials in the MetroWest Daily News.

The blog presents an opportunity for readers to comment directly and immediately on pieces that appear on the print pages.